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chapelhill.porchcommunities.org |
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The NC Huddle – July 2023 |
Hello!
Welcome to PORCH Chapel Hill-Carrboro's quarterly message that we send to all Neighborhood Coordinators (NCs), hoping that it will provide support and inspiration for the incredible work that you do.
You can read past editions here.
In the first half of 2023, you collected $104,600 worth of non-perishable food. Thank you for your extraordinary efforts! We are so proud to have 120 active neighborhoods and 141 active NCs.
The following NCs have come on board in recent months: Ansel Necochea of Bel Arbor and Phil Bick of Downing Creek. We are so glad to have them as part of this stellar team!
KIT FOR NEIGHBORHOOD COORDINATORS
In August, we are introducing a Neighborhood Coordinator Starter Kit, which is loaded with resources:
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email templates to send to your neighbors as a way of introducing yourself and sharing PORCH’s mission
- a list of tips from other Neighborhood Coordinators
- printed materials such as door hangers, postcards, and thank you notes
- and much more!
Pick up your packet when you come to Extraordinary Ventures. While these kits are helpful to Neighborhood Coordinators who are just getting acquainted with PORCH, they are also immensely valuable to anyone looking to recruit neighbors or enhance their monthly communications.
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UPCOMING DATES
Keep in mind that you can drop off food donations on Sundays from 3 to 7 p.m. at Extraordinary Ventures. In fact, getting donations on Sunday really helps us get the non-perishables sorted early so we can plan for how much food we can pack in our Food For Families bags. Sunday won’t work? No problem! Drop off from 8 to 10 a.m. on Mondays. A reminder that the next drop-off dates are Sunday, Aug. 13 (3-7 p.m.) and Monday, Aug. 14 (8-10 a.m.). We will send an email reminding you of these dates (and linking to our monthly message so that you can forward that to your contacts) on Aug. 7 and 11.
If you are interested in scheduling a one-on-one consultation with our team to discuss ways you can enhance your neighborhood’s PORCH activities, please email us at chc@porchcommunities.org. We’d be happy to brainstorm with you! Thank you for all you do for PORCH!
Best,
The PORCH Chapel Hill-Carrboro Team
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PORCH Fact Sheet
Here are some key facts and statistics about PORCH Chapel Hill-Carrboro that you may want to pass along to donors and potential donors as you share our mission and correspond about upcoming collection dates:
– In 2023, we are seeing a record need in our community. Community support helps us sustain – and expand – our efforts to fight hunger in Chapel Hill and Carrboro. This summer, we expect another 50 families to apply to Food for Families, and we want to enroll them immediately.
– Through PORCH Cooks, we provide recipes and nutrition information each month to those enrolled in our Food for Families program. Every new family also receives a beautiful cookbook, Good and Cheap: Eat Well on $4/Day, which is available in English and Spanish. The cookbook has glossy photos of all kinds of healthy recipes for those on a budget.
– We provide fresh food, too! Once a month, enrollees in our Food for Families program each receive 35-40 pounds of produce such as potatoes, green beans, apples, broccoli, zucchini, sweet potatoes, onions, and peppers, along with eggs, milk, and non-perishable items. More than 550 families (including more than 1,250 children) are enrolled, having been identified as being especially at risk of hunger by school social workers in Chapel Hill and Carrboro. They also receive grocery gift cards, providing them the dignity of choice.
– Among our 200 monthly volunteers are fantastic interpreters who assist with communicating with our families in Spanish, Burmese, and Karen.
– Food for Thought, our advocacy program, raises awareness about food insecurity, calls attention to the intersectionality of food insecurity and poverty, and strives to engage the community in grassroots, as well as systemic, solutions to address hunger.
– If a workplace or community organization wants to host a food drive for PORCH, it’s pretty easy! Find a list of our most needed items, a promotional flyer, and some instructions on our website. We have also posted a virtual food drive toolkit, if someone wants to collect money and then shop for groceries for PORCH through a service such as Instacart.
– $20 provides milk and eggs for two families; $35 provides a grocery gift card for one family; $50 provides 9 days’ worth of fresh food for one family; $100 provides produce and a grocery gift card for a family; $150 provides extra fresh food during the summer for three families; $300 sponsors fresh food and grocery gift cards for three families; and $750 sponsors fresh food for a family for a year.
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Meet Our New Executive Director
We are excited to announce that Erin Riney has joined our team as PORCH Chapel Hill-Carrboro's new executive director! We hope you will get a chance to chat with her in person soon at Extraordinary Ventures.
In addition to prior non-profit advocacy work and numerous volunteer roles, her past experience includes over 15 years as a community college educator and student champion. Chief among her many projects include collaborating with students to create Durham Technical Community College’s robust campus food pantry and spearheading the creation of interconnected holistic student supports for student parents and those experiencing housing insecurity and other basic needs challenges.
Erin also led a statewide alliance of other college pantries, created the college’s civic and community engagement office, and wrote a college success textbook that has been utilized by community colleges across the state to help first-generation students navigate higher education. A resident of Chapel Hill since 2004, she is passionate about developing inclusive, equitable solutions to engage and support our Chapel Hill and Carrboro neighbors.
“PORCH’s neighbors-helping-neighbors model provides the foundation for food justice work that can transform a community,” Erin says. “At the heart of the organization’s efforts is the sense of community formed between donors, volunteers, PORCH program participants, and community partner organizations – and I look forward to working with them all as we continue to address the problem of hunger and its root causes right here in our backyard.”
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Additional Neighborhood Coordinators Wanted
We are seeking additional NCs throughout Chapel Hill and Carrboro. If you know of someone outside of your neighborhood who may be well suited for the role of Neighborhood Coordinator, please send them a compelling note explaining why you do this work and how rewarded you feel by it. You can pass along the link to this page, which gets into the nuts and bolts of this work; it includes this handy video.
This is a great role for high schoolers who are seeking community service opportunities!
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Lending a Hand
We always have excellent help at our food sorts and beyond.
Recently:
The PORCH Club at Carrboro High made flower cutouts for our Food for Families bags;
The Alliance of Youth Leaders in the US group brought plenty of help as they double bagged 450 bags; and Ken and Barbara Updegrave, who are NCs at The Cedars, delivered non-perishable goods to Freedom House, one of our Food for Pantries partners.
We are so grateful to have such amazing and dedicated volunteers!
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PO Box 16363
Chapel Hill, NC 27516
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